Government domain plan leaves key questions unanswered

A long-awaited government domain-name plan came out today - with the government saying it will leave critical questions about Internet addresses to an as yet unformed nonprofit corporation.

However, that decision means no action will be taken anytime soon on a proposal to add seven new generic top-level domains, such as .firm, .rec and .arts, Becky Burr, associate administrator at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Office of International Affairs, said this morning.

The government white paper was vague on how the board of this corporation would be chosen.

"The Board of Directors for the new corporation should be balanced to equitably represent the interests of IP number registries, domain name registries, domain name registrars, the technical community, ISPs and Internet users (commercial, not-for-profit, and individuals) from around the world," the white paper said.

However, Burr said the government is not going to choose the board. In fact, it's unclear who is going to choose the board. "We hope that all the people that have demonstrated an interest will help to create this new entity," Burr said.

"This is not a protocol board," said a source close to the domain process. "This is a business board." According to the white paper, technical domain protocols will be decided by the IETF. The board, however, will be responsible for the implementation of those protocols, the source said.

To further that end, the source said the board will be staffed by seasoned business managers. A shortlist of names places MCI Senior Vice President Vinton Cerf and IBM Internet guru Irving Wladawsky-Berger as possible CEOs, the source said.

Warding off claims that the government has specific people in mind to fill the board slots, Burr said, "No individual is going to create the interim board."

However, the paper did state that the corporation would be U.S.-based and that it would not fall under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union, two proposals offered to the government. This flies in the face a proposal handed in by the Council of Registrars, a joint effort by 'Net organizations the Internet Society and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

IANA and its controversial leader Jon Postel did score a win in the paper, though, as the government recommended that IANA staff and its functions be folded into the new corporation.

The board, once in place, will also decide whether and how there is going to be competition among regitries of domains. Currently, Network Solutions, Inc. of Herndon, Va., maintains the database for the top-level domains, including .com, .net and .org. According to the green paper, any additional TLDs would be managed by other registrars, introducing competition to the system.

Another decision that got shifted to the corporation for final say is the introduction of competition into the registry process. While registries maintain the database that assigns domain names, registrars are responsible for selling and servicing those domain name accounts.

"We have universal approval on introducing competing registrars," Burr said of the more than 650 comments the government received when it posted the green paper on the Web earlier this year. "But the whole registry system is going to be looked at by the corporation."

Burr said introducing competition at this level would be beneficial to customers because they could receive price breaks on domain name registration. For instance, a Web site development firm might offer free domain name registration as an add-on to their services.

The white paper
from the NTIA's Web site.

Government DNS plan moving forward
Includes links to green paper and past articles.
Network World, 4/1/98